Zechariah 14:8

July 1 Morning

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea. It will continue in summer and in winter.

The streams of living water which flow from Jerusalem are not dried up by the parching heats of sultry midsummer any more than they are frozen by the cold winds of blustering winter. Rejoice that you are spared to testify of the faithfulness of the Lord. The seasons change and we change, but our Lord remains forever the same, and the streams of his love are as deep, as broad and as full as ever. The heats of business cares and scorching trials make me need the cooling influences of the river of His grace; I may go at once and drink to the full from the inexhaustible fountain, for in summer and in winter it pours forth its flood. The upper springs are never scanty, and blessed be the name of the Lord, the nether springs cannot fail either. Elijah found Cherith dried up, but Jehovah was still the same God of providence. Job said his brethren were like deceitful brooks, but he found his God an overflowing river of consolation. The Nile is the great confidence of Egypt, but its floods are variable; our Lord is evermore the same. By turning the course of the Euphrates, Cyrus took the city of Babylon, but no power, human or evil spirit, can divert the current of divine grace. The tracks of ancient rivers have been found all dry and desolate, but the streams which are filled in the mountains of divine sovereignty and infinite love shall ever be full to the brim. Generations melt away, but the course of grace is unaltered. The river of God may sing with greater truth than the brook in the poem--

"Men may come, and men may go,

But I go on forever."

How happy are you, my soul, to be led beside such still waters! never wander to other streams, lest you hear the Lord's rebuke, "What hast you to do in the way of Egypt to drink of the muddy river?"